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The Forsyte Saga: In Chancery

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The Forsyte Saga, Book Two

A man in search of warmth he can call his own; a man in search for stability he can rely upon, a man in search of an heir who will stand strong in his spot when the time comes. The genius of this book is not merely in its flowing and charming language; not only in the depth of such familiar and common to all of us emotions of love and hate, jealousy and fear that Galsworthy paints; it is in its honesty. Have you had the feeling when you cannot stay in chancery any more and yet it is YOUR environment and the way you are accustomed to. And when this feeling of owning something and counting it as your own ignites with the sparkle of passionate love... then you can forgive and are willing to forget even the most horrendous times of your life.

"A faint smile curved her lips. She held out her hand. It was cold to his rather feverish touch. 'She's made of ice,' he thought-- 'she was always made of ice!' But even as that thought darted through him, his senses were assailed by the perfume of her dress and body, as though the warmth within her, which had never been for him, were struggling to show its presence. And he turned on his heel. He walked out and away, as if someone with a whip were after him, not even looking for a cab, glad of the empty Embankment and the cold river, and the thick-strewn shadows of the plane-tree leaves--confused, flurried, sore at heart, and vaguely disturbed, as though he had made some deep mistake whose consequences he could not foresee. And the fantastic thought suddenly assailed him if instead of, 'I think you had better go,' she had said, 'I think you had better stay!' What should he have felt, what would he have done? That cursed attraction of her was there for him even now, after all these years of estrangement and bitter thoughts."

When I ask myself, what did the author wish to do in this book, I have the only answer that comes to my heart: the void of our desires makes us underdogs of the drama of life. Why some manage to hold up with dignity and others dive into the darkness? Perhaps, the answer is in the core of steel some, like the Forsytes, have in their very nature. I pity Soames. He is a man of dignity; at his very core, though "a man of property", he has sincerely deep feelings for Irene, for his father, for the beauty of the nature and the limitless power of the Creation. He wants the family, to continue his name, to have someone to grow old for... "A wife! Somebody to talk things over with. One had a right! Damn it! One had a right!"

Perhaps, the message of the book is that you cannot own anything and you cannot plan for any development. You can hope... you can pray. But the life goes in its own way and you never know which one. People die, houses break down, wives leave, ages pass. Galsworthy delivered it the best in the passage where not-so-young Jolyon and his son Jolly lay to rest Old Balthazar, their trusted dog of 18 years: "With extreme care they raised the old dog's body, whose faded tan and white showed here and there under the leaves stirred by the wind. They laid it, heavy, cold, and unresponsive, in the grave, and Jolly spread more leaves over it, while Jolyon, deeply afraid to show emotion before his son, began quickly shoveling the earth on to that still shape. There went the past! If only there were a joyful future to look forward to! It was like stamping down earth on one's own life. They replaced the turf carefully on the smooth little mound, and, grateful that they had spared each other's feelings, returned to the house arm-in-arm."

In the void of life we can only strive to stay human and to cherish the moments passing by, be it time with our aging parents, growing children or compassionate pets. The inevitable passing of time will envelop you with soothing melancholy, raising from the pages of this book and finding a temporary rest on your shoulders.

Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya

They say you never really get over the important exes in your life. But Soames Forsyte takes that to weird, creepy levels.

In fact, his obsession with his estranged wife Irene is the one aspect of "In Chancery," the second novel in the Forsyte Saga, that remains unchanged. The brilliant John Galsworthy changes just about everything else for the noveau riche Forsytes, as the older generations pass away and younger ones take their place -- and he also crams it with plenty of scandal, love and obsession.

It's been twelve years since Irene left Soames. When Dartie runs off to Buenos Aires with a dancer, Soames advises his cousin Winifred to divorce her wayward husband.

Soames has a similar problem: he desperately wants a son, and has a new wife lined up, but is still technically married to Irene. Though he hasn't been faithful himself, he's determined to ferret out imagined love affairs of hers as grounds for divorce. So he sends his cousin Young Jolyon over to Irene -- but it isn't long before his possessive passion toward Irene is rekindled.

And to make things more complicated, a mutual attraction has sprung up between Jolyon and Irene, infuriating Soames further. But Jolyon has caused scandal before for love, and he's willing to do it again, shocking the entire Forsyte clan with his new romance -- and what comes from it. And as Soames chases the life he feels he's been cheated of, his time with Annette isn't going to be the way he wanted...

John Galsworthy once stated that the Forsytes never change. But twelve years in a rapidly-shifting era is a long time, and there's been a lot of changes since "A Man of Property." Younger Forsytes are replacing the dying elders, and the stuffy, male, money-centric focus of the big respectable clan is starting to fade away. Just about the only thing that hasn't changed is Soames, and his obsession with Irene.

Galsworthy's dignified, detailed prose is still very much here. He hadn't lost his knack for delicate, simple descriptions of beauty and suppressed emotion, and he can conjure exquisite images with only a few words (June is described as having "red-gold hair and her viking-coloured eyes, and that touch of the Berserker in her spirit"). It's like having the words painted with vivid colors.

Though the plot deals with scandalous sexual affairs, stalking, family infighting, divorce and other fun topics, Galsworthy never resorts to soppy, sordid melodrama to get the point across. But he also relaxed his style in "In Chancery" -- one entire chapter is from the jumbled, fragmented point of view of Soames' dying father, showing that Galsworthy definitely wasn't restricted to just one style.

Soames remains a fairly repellent creature in this book. His narrow vision of the world and his hypocrisies (it's okay for him to have lovers, but not Irene) keep him from ever realizing what drove his wife away. His obsession with what he considers "his" takes him to stalkerish heights -- and that obsession is more about wanting to "own" her, and being driven nuts because he can't have her.

Irene remains a complete mystery -- all that can be learned of her is through others' eyes. But the more likable Forsytes have grown and changed -- passionate June, the worm romantic Young Jolyon, the strong-willed Winifred and her wastrel husband, and Winifred's tormented teenage son Val. Poor Val ends up being the most three-dimensional character of all, since he's left ashamed and angry of his dad.

"In Chancery" shows that while some things change, a few never do -- including Soames' unhealthy obsession with his ex-wife. Dramatic, beautiful and striking.